


It's Fate

by HajimeHinataIsMyWaifu



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Fluff and Angst Planned, M/M, fates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-08 14:38:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4308960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HajimeHinataIsMyWaifu/pseuds/HajimeHinataIsMyWaifu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Fates are beings that exist outside of time, controlling the delicate process of life itself. Every birth, death, and rebirth is controlled by them, and every piece is a delicate part of the system.</p><p>Komaeda is an Executioner, a being sent by the Fates to carry out the few deeds that need a bit of altering to stay on track. If he continues to perfectly execute his tasks, he will be able to graduate from his status and become a Fate. He is given his last assignment, to kill a person named Hajime Hinata at sunrise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Jin Kirigiri walked down the main hall of the high school, his shoes tapping against the tile. He was leaving a bit earlier than usual, since today was a special day. Jin and his daughter were going to do something together, since Jin never really had any time to spend at home, being the principal and all. He wanted to try and make it up to Kyouko for being busy lately...

He pushed through the doors at the front of the school and began to make his way to his car, when movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. A student was sitting on one of the courtyard benches, which wouldn't have been that strange if it was morning, or even afternoon. However, it was pretty late, as the sun was going to set within the next hour, far too late for a student to be alone.

As he approached the teenager, their features came into view, and Jin could recognize by the shockingly white hair who was staring at the ground, swaying back and forth slightly.

"Komaeda, right?" The principal stood in front of the bench, and the boy sitting on it looked up in response to his name and smiled sweetly.

"Oh, hello Mr Kirigiri! It's a nice evening tonight, isn’t it?" The boy greeted him warmly, as if he wasn't alone in the courtyard hours after school.

"Yes, it is pretty nice.. Why are you still at school? It's going to get dark soon," Jin questioned the high schooler.

"Ah, well, I'm waiting for my mother to pick me up. My father works in the day, and my mother works night shifts, so she can oversleep sometimes, and even when she doesn't her memory's not that great," he laughed, not very fit for the subject at hand, "so I'm just waiting until she comes to get me. I'm sorry if I'm causing you any trouble." Komaeda smiled once again at the man, and Jin glanced up at the sky that was quickly growing darker with each passing moment. Looking at his watch, he saw it was a little before seven. He should be able to drive to Komaeda’s house and still make it home by seven-thirty, as long as Komaeda didn't live too far away.

Jin turned back to the white haired boy, whose eyes were still fixed on the teacher. "Komaeda, how about I drive you home? It's getting late, and I'm not sure when your parents will get here.."

Komaeda just stared at him with widened eyes. "Are you sure? I mean, my mother will be here soon..probably... And I wouldn't want to burden you..."

"Of course I'm sure, come on. It's better than staying here."

"Um, o-okay." The boy stood up and grabbed his bag, following the adult to his car. Jin unlocked it, and climbed in the driver's side, gesturing to Komaeda to get in the passenger seat instead of the back, where he first headed to.

Jin pulled out of the high school parking lot and onto the main street. "Where do you live?"

Komaeda tapped lightly on the window with his knuckle. "618 Gopher drive. It's off 27th street."

The principal nodded. It was a bit of a ways away, so he'd be pressed for time, but he could still make it as long as there wasn't much traffic, or he didn't get caught in too many red lights.

After about ten minutes of silence with Komaeda staring emotionlessly out the window and Jin looking at him periodically, the man decided to break it. "So, are you in any clubs?"

Komaeda raised his head, but not to look at Jin. "It's better to turn here at the light," he pointed at the lane turning left. Jin shot Komaeda a puzzled glance, but merged anyways. Turning back to his window and resting his chin on his propped up hand, Komaeda mumbled "It's faster."

Jin made the turn, although he didn't remember this way being a faster way to 27th street. Maybe it's new, or just faster to Gopher drive. As he drove further, he realized he'd never been to this part of town. The road level changed about an inch, causing the car to bounce as it drove onto a small bridge, only a few hundred meters long, suspended over a river.

Jin cleared his throat and looked over at Komaeda. "Do you.. have any siblings?" The boy gave no response, but flicked his eyes to the mirror on the side of the car and clenched his hand around the bar on the car door.

Before Jin could question him on his actions, a truck slammed into the back of his small car.

 

When the smoke from the crash cleared out enough to see, Komaeda shifted in his seat and checked to make sure he wasn't too injured. The boy never got too banged up during these, but he's gotten some broken bones before, not a serious problem, but makes it a whole lot harder to get away from the scene, and can be pretty annoying.. Luckily, it didn't seem like he was harmed that bad, besides a ..pencil? through his right hand. Komaeda ripped it out in a quick move, and looked over at Jin Kirigiri, or, rather, the body of Jin Kirigiri. During the impact he must have been thrown forward, but, blocked by the airbag, he was unable to be thrown out of the way of the pipe thrust through the car and through his chest.

Komaeda hummed for a moment. He had never gotten close to the principal, he had barely talked to the man. He does, however, know his daughter, but he doubts she'll be that effected, besides, even if Komaeda felt bad about it, it's not like he could've stopped it without bigger effects.

He grabbed his bag, which was unharmed, and shifted around to kick the already half-shattered windshield, causing it to completely fall apart. Komaeda crawled through the broken glass- probably cutting through his pants and scraping up his knees, he'll need to get new jeans after this- and practically fell out the other side.

A crowd was gathering around the crumpled pile of metal, not to mention a line of cars that stretched the rest of the bridge behind the accident. A high schooler falling out of the rubble must have surprised them, since the crash had totally impaled Kirigiri's car, almost cutting it in two. They probably thought no one could've survived it, and they'd sort of be right, but Komaeda dying caused more problems than it solved, so he knew the fates wouldn't encode his death anytime soon.

People ran up to Komaeda as he stood up, saying things like "Are you okay?" and "No, no, you're injured, stay seated!", the usual things said after an accident. Although, he did hear someone say something about an ambulance, so he probably shouldn't take his time.

Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he looked for somewhere where the crowd was thin. The side of the road where the crash took place was filled with bystanders on their phones, probably calling the police or something, so escaping that way was out of the question, but the opposite side of the road had no one, besides the people that had run up to him when Komaeda had fallen out, but they were standing pretty choose, so it should be easy to shove them out of them way, and the few cars that pass do so slowly, observing the damage done to the vehicles. A much more preferable route.

Komaeda blinked and waited for a good moment. Suddenly, someone honked their car horn in the back of the car line, too far to see the source of the jam, and the people trying to aid him looked to the noise. Seeing his chance, Komaeda pushed his way through the people surrounding him. They shouted at him to stop, but of course, he didn't listen. They continued shouting at him, even after he ran across the clear lane, climbed on the short concrete blockage at the edge of the bridge, and threw himself over and into the water below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty short, since it's the prologue, but don't worry, the chapters will increase in length. Next chapter is Komaeda's POV, so hopefully it will clear up some things, since this chapter doesn't do much of that~


	2. Chapter 2

This is why I don't like water.

 

My shirt clung to my skin, and I shivered from the cold, making me quite uncomfortable to say the least. Luckily, it was nearing summer, otherwise the walk back would be much less enjoyable. The water forced my backpack open during the impact, so my usual jacket must have gotten lost somewhere in the currents. I liked that jacket, too...

 

I walked alongside the river. It’s a secluded area, so no one really comes down here, and avoiding people would probably be best, considering I’m soaking wet and covered in bloody scrapes. I will need to get cross through the busy part of town in order to reach my building, I really need to convince Junko to move somewhere a bit less crowded, it can be a problem to get back sometimes.

 

Stopping at the turn that lead into town, I contempted waiting until it got dark to walk through it, since complete darkness was only a few minutes away. I decided against it, since my hand was really starting to hurt and I needed to clean it out to avoid infection.

 

I began to casually stroll down the sidewalk, hiding my jeans and right hand with my bag while smiling and waving to passing people with my left hand. Where I live isn't extremely far, only few blocks from the river, but _of course_ the streets had to be busy on the one day I got a little banged up on an assignment..

 

After about five minutes of strategically shifting my bookbag to hide my injuries (though it felt like longer), I finally reached the ally that lead to where I live. I made sure no one was looking my way and stepped into the alleyway. No, I'm not homeless, though I don’t legally live anywhere. Of course, I also don't legally exist either, but that's not the point.

 

Twisting the knob of the door to the abandoned flower shop, I pushed it up and out slightly to unjam it from its uneven doorframe and entered the room. It was a pretty open space, no furniture besides the mattress I sleep on and the built in desk in the corner of the room. This was probably a pretty bright and cheerful place before it closed down, judging from the amount of windows, but they must have been covered up at some point. I sat down on the mattress and retrieved my water bottle from the floor near it and began to wash out my hand, picking out pieces of metal, water dripping onto the floor.

 

"Is he dead?"

 

I quickly looked up from my hand, a bit startled. "Yeah, Kirigiri's dead, car crash on the west bridge."

 

The girl with the pinkish blonde pigtails shifted around in midair until she would've been on her back had she been laying on anything. "Good. He seemed like a fucking pedophile. Disgusting. He deserved it."

 

Junko is my mentor, and sort of guardian, I guess. When I was told to become an executioner on earth, she volunteered to receive my tasks and deliver messages. Why she would come to earth when she seems hates it and everyone on it (me as well, to some degree, though it seems she likes me more than most people), I have no idea, but it's been years and she still hasn't quit.

 

"By the way, you should be more careful on your tasks. Word is someone caught you on video jumping off the bridge. You wouldn't want people to realize various deaths all lead to you, do you~" Junko looked at me, fake innocence written all over her face.

 

"Yeah, I'm sure they'll get me this time-" I snapped my fingers, "-darn. They might track me down or some shit." I emphasized the swear, mocking her and her foul mouth.

 

"Hey, watch your goddamn fucking language, I'm in a higher status position then you." she pointed her sharp red nail in my direction. Which technically is true, since I'm just an executioner, one of the lowest statuses in Kibogamine, just above the powerless people that surround the city. Not that I have any magic either, but there are some people like Junko, who can do many things with their magic (with restrictions, of course), such as the ever so dramatic sudden appearance and floating thing she’s doing now. Of course, I’ve been promised that once I finish my time here as an executioner, I'll be able to go back to Kibogamine, and become a fate as well!

 

Junko decided at this point to go on one of her "responsibly" rants (even though she's not very responsible herself). I had finished cleaning my hand, so I laid down on my mattress, trying to tune her out, figuring my unsevere legs wounds could wait. I closed my eyes. I wonder what Kibogamine will look like when I go back. It's been a while since I've been there, the last time was... Wow, when I was around 10. I can remember Kibogamine clearly, though, the lights of the magical city glinting off the fated stream, the one that carries people’s fates to earth, to the executioners. The Fates, bring hope or despair to the people of the world. I remember some of them, smiling at me as I ran past as a small child. I loved that place, still love it, even though I can only see the place through memories. I've been working hard to get back ever since I had the chance to become a beacon of hope with the Fates.

 

I realized an odd quietness in the flower shop, and looked over to Junko. She was in a sitting position now, and had stopped spewing words and was instead wearing her trademark shit-eating grin. That was never good.

 

"What?" I asked her. Junko just laid back down.

 

"Ooohhh nothing~" she laughed.

 

I sighed in frustration. You could never have a normal conversation with her. "Really, what happened?"

 

Junko threw her head back and looked at the ceiling, expression still unwavering. "Weeelll, I just remembered something that happened today!" I waited for a continuation, but she didn't explain, not that I expected any different.

 

"...Yeah?" I started to get nervous. If she was this hesitant to tell me something, even if it was mockingly, it usually meant it affected me greatly. Had... Had I been told not to bother doing anymore tasks? That they had decided to deem me unworthy of becoming a Fate? Had I messed up? I bit my lip.

 

The mentor must have seen my actions, because she just laughed harder. "What, do you think you've been rejected? By the insurance company maybe, but not by the fates. I just got another mission for you today. It's at the transmission stream."

 

Nodding, I stood up and reached for my bag, ready to go to the stream that connects kibogamine to this world. The fates of everyone on earth flow through it, and most of them end up safely to the correct person. However some of the fates wash up on the shore, and those fates need a bit of help to keep the people it effects on the right path.

 

I was about to venture out when I realized something. "Wait.. If you know I have a task to complete, why would it be still at the stream? Wouldn't you have had to go to the stream, therefore bringing back?"

 

Junko smiled and held up a little clear sphere. "Such an observation." sarcasm lined her voice as she tossed it over to me.

 

I caught the marble-like ball against my chest. Raising it up to look at the visual inside, I noticed this one seemed different from the usual pearl shape. The semi-transparent fate showed a knife, at least, it looked like a knife, raised by a hand against a dark background. The darkness engulfed any form of uniqueness, so it was impossible to distinguish defining features. The background started changing to a lighter shade, and turned a light shade of pink, doing nothing to reveal any more details, only made the knife gleam in what must have been the morning light.

 

I raised my head from the ball. "Explanation?"

 

My guardian rolled her eyes toward the wall. "Well, this one was a bit hard to decipher, since it wasn't clear what it meant, as you can see. But I managed to figure out the message attached." she floated over to me so she was directly in front of me, though still a fair distance away. "Apparently, you need to take a knife and stab someone." Junko placed her fists on her hips. "And no, not just anyone," she said, seeing my look of confusion. "You need to kill Hajime Hinata. By sunrise, two days from now, by the way. How you do that isn't my problem."

 

I stared at the wall next to me, the realization of what I had to do sinking in. All the time I’ve been here, I've always done indirect interferences. Even killings were uncommon, though not surprising to get them, but this was _me_ killing someone. By my own hand. But, it had to be done, so I'm not complaining.

 

"Oh yeah, by the way, this is your last assignment. The Fates said you can go back to Kibogamine after this."

 

My gaze shot back to her and my eyes widened. I.. I could finally go back? My lifelong dream is going to come true in a matter of days. I started shaking in excitement. After years of delivering peoples fates, mine has finally been delivered to me. I was going to become a Fate!

 

I blinked back to reality. Junko was snapping her fingers in front of my face. "Fucking pay attention," she stopped the motion, "you’re not done yet, you still got to kill the guy. You haven't got all the time you want."

 

"Of course, don't worry!" I nodded firmly. "Hajime Hinata will be dead in two days!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of part of the prologue and part of the main story, since this scene has to happen for anything else in the story to happen. The rest of the chapters will be in first person, unless it's special. Next chapter is Hinata POV, so they'll be more characters and plot introduced.
> 
> Just a heads up, I won't be able to update for the next week, due to me having less internet access then usual. Of course, I'll still be writing, so I'll have at least 4 chapters out the moment I can update


	3. Chapter 3

I mashed the buttons on the controller, trying to control my character on the screen and prevent them from being disintegrated by my opponent. Still, they were knocked to the ground by an enemy blow.

 

"Dang it, Chiaki, I'm not losing to you again!" I hit the buttons and frantically moved the joystick around to dodge her swift attacks. My body moved as I shifted around trying to get my character to go the way I wanted. My hands jerk the controller around as I send out my last resort. _Right, right, left, up, left, right!_ The command activates a triple combo, and my avatar flew at Chiaki's as I watched in anticipation and desperation. She easily blocked it using her built up xp, her face never changing from one of deep concentration as she smashed me to bits. The TV screen changed to one displaying the words "game over" with Chiaki's character jumping up and down in victory while mine lays in a defeated heap beside them.

 

I groaned. "This is like the millionth time you've beaten me! I give up." After throwing the controller down, I laid back and rested my head on the carpeted floor. I realized I must have inched forward toward the TV about two feet during our battle, while the experienced gamer stayed perfectly still, not fazed by the intensity.

 

Chiaki crawled over to the game console and ejected the disk. "What do you want to play next? I have the Kingdom Hearts games. I don't think you’ve played Birth by Sleep yet." She held up a colorful game box.

 

"No, I haven't, but those take forever, I don’t want to play something that takes all night."

 

"Then how about Limbo? That's a lot shorter."

 

"Nah, the storyline creeps me out and the gameplay gets really hard. Plus I don't want to see the guy get beheaded every time I die." I turned over on the floor and brought my knees closer to my chest. "Besides, it's getting pretty late, I think we should get to bed." My eyes already wanted to shut.

 

Chiaki looked at me with a stern look on her face. "Hajime! It's only 10:30! We can't go to sleep yet! Hmmm.. How about Minecraft? It's easy enough for you." I nodded and she started sorting through her games to find it.

 

Chiaki and I have been best friends since we were very young. We first met the first year of school, when we were about six. Of course we were teased about being "boyfriend and girlfriend", just like every girl/boy friendship, heck, we still are teased about it, but I've gotten used to it over the years. Tonight we were having one of our many sleepovers, this time at Chiaki's house, where she had what seems like every single game ever made, all stored in a random yet organized fashion. I'm surprised her dad lets her keep all those games, my parents won’t let me keep more than five without them telling me to get rid of a few (I just give the games to Chiaki, she doesn't mind).

 

The girl got the game set and ready, so I sat up and grabbed the tossed away controller. This isn't exactly a game where you compete, so I probably won't feel defeated afterwards. Probably.

 

For the next hour, I talked with Chiaki and built small things.

 

"You mean Ibuki really blindfolded Togami and walked them into the fountain in the mall?" I giggled a bit thinking of Ibuki walking them down a busy sidewalk, probably bumping into many confused people along the way.

 

"That's what Tsumiki told me. She said Ibuki was screaming about it during school the next day." Chiaki had a small smile on her face as she finished up building her castle.

 

Suddenly, a small knock was heard on the door, and Chiaki called out a _come in_. Chiaki's door opened and a kid with short light-brown hair a little less then Chiaki's height took a step in.

 

I smiled, "Hey Fujisaki." Fujisaki is Chiaki's sibling. They have different last names, because they took on different parents’ names. It can seem a bit strange, but it makes sense to their family, so I’m not one to judge.

 

Fujisaki returned the expression. "Hello Hinata! How are you?"

 

I nodded in response. Chiaki's head was raised to look at her sibling. "That do you need, Chihiro?"

 

Their eyes darted to the sides, trying to recall the reason, before widening in remembrance. "Oh yeah! Some of my friends invited me to a party! It's tomorrow night, over on a boat named "The Byakaya Togami". I guess you can figure out who's hosting it." they giggled. "Anyways, they said to see if you guys wanted to come."

 

I tilted my head and rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, I don't know about Chiaki, but I don't really know anyone in your class..."

 

"We'll come." Chiaki turned back to the game to unpause it.

 

"O-okay! I'll tell my friends!" Fujisaki exited the room with little sound, but I could hear their sock-muffled footprints going down the hall.

 

"Chiaki!" I redirected my gaze to her unblinking fixated eyes. "You know I'm not good with parties! I'm not that social!"

 

The gamer spoke without moving her eyes from the screen, "You're very social, Hajime. You're one of the most social people I know. Probably the most, actually. I'm surprised you weren't the one to accept the invite."

 

I glanced at the floor nervously. That's actually true, now that I think about it. Most of my friends are pretty unsocial, and the ones that are always tell me how I'm a lot friendlier then them.

 

"I guess I just don't really know anyone from the underclass... Besides Fujisaki, of course.."

 

"I'll introduce you to everyone. They’re all really nice, I think you'll like them. Besides, I'll be with you the whole time, so you won't be alone or anything."

 

I looked at the TV where she was fending off some monsters and smiled. "Thanks, Chiaki."

 

The pause screen blinked and the pink haired girl looked over to me. "You're welcome. Is there anything else you want to do?"

 

"Ummm," I glanced around to the surrounding room, but didn't find anything that we could do. I curl down into a ball and leaned against Chiaki's shoulder. "I don't know, I'm too tired to think.."

 

She pated my head. "It's okay, Hajime, you can go to sleep. You can use my bed if you want."

 

I leaned up. "Really? What about when you get tired?" I wouldn't her having to sleep somewhere uncomfortable, especially in her own house. Not that I mind sleeping in the same bed, we've done it before at my house, but her bed isn’t that big, it's only a twin size, pretty small for two people to fit in comfortably.

 

She blinked. "I'll just sleep on my bean bag chair. It's where I end up sleeping most nights, anyways, and it's pretty comfy."

 

I was about to refuse, but a sudden wave of tiredness washed over me, and my eyelids began to droop shut. "Okay.. as long as you're.. fine with it..." I crawled over to Chiaki's bed. "Don't stay up too late..."

 

A hum and the resuming of music answered me, and I climbed in her bed. Her sheets were a light shade of purple and had a tetris block pattern, they were actually pretty cute.. I snuggled the sheets against my body and pressed my face into the pillow. I closed my eyes and listened to the clicking of Chiaki's controller, and eventually I drifted off to sleep.

 

Bright sunlight streamed through the window and hit my closed eyes, making it uncomfortable to keep them closed any longer. Sitting up, I blinked multiple times rubbed my eyes to get the sleepiness out and turned to the clock to check what time it was. I groaned and flopped back down when I realized it was only 8:30, but before I could attempt getting back to sleep, I heard a familiar clicking sound. Sitting up once again and looked to where it was coming from, I opened my mouth in half asleep disbelief. "Chiaki! Did you stay up all night?!"

 

The girl, still in her pajamas, blinked out of her trance and raised her head slightly. "Huh? Oh, I guess I did," she replied, not missing a point on her game (she must have changed it while I was asleep, I don't recognize it).

 

I shook my head with a small smile at her behavior, not that I expected any different. She always got so wrapped up in her games that time passed without her noticing. Getting up from her comfy bed, I yawned and clumsily made my way to Chiaki, still half asleep. I plopped down next to her and watched the screen with dead eyes.

 

A few minutes later I realized I was falling asleep again, so I sat up straight and turned to Chiaki, forcing my eyes open. "Let's go somewhere today."

 

The gamer tilted her head slightly. "Hmm? Ah, sure Hajime. Where do you want to go?"

 

I looked toward to ceiling. "I don’t know.. Maybe the mall?"

 

"..Sure. I heard they got the newest installment of a game series I like." She still wore a poker face as the next level of her game flashed on the screen. I stood up and grabbed my overnight bag to change out of my night clothes. Chiaki still hadn’t moved. I rolled my eyes and started to walk to the bathroom. "We're going today, you know," I called to her from her bedroom door. A hum is all I got in return, and I chuckled and headed into the bathroom.

 

An hour and a half later, we finally entered the mall. It took a lot longer than it should have, but Chiaki wouldn’t move very fast, if at all, I had to eventually take her game away, and even then she didn’t move fast, probably still playing to game in her head. I even had to get Fujisaki to help get her out of her room (though they said she's always like this). They also reminded me about the party tonight that I had completely forgotten about. I'll have to call home and say I'll be out late tonight, they'll get worried if I don't.

 

Chiaki poked my arm with her finger and began to walk past me into the main area, I had to run up to catch up her (sure, she's fast now...). I grabbed the sleeve of her dark purple jacket and tugged a bit to make her slow down. She dropped her pace to a lower speed, a little annoyed, I could tell, but it was still a struggle to keep up with her.

 

The girl headed straight to the game store in the back of the mall, to play to the demos they had out, I'm sure. Not that I minded, I always enjoy playing them with Chiaki. She was about to make the final turn into the store when I spotted some familiar dye streaked hair.

 

"Hajime! Chiaki! Ibuki sees you!" Ibuki ran up to us, her colorful hair twirling behind her.

 

I pulled Chiaki's wrist to prevent her from disappearing into the store. "Oh, hey Ibuki." Chiaki struggled in my grip as I spoke. We met Ibuki around grade seven, in the mandatory music class. The class itself was pretty boring, but the music lover made it much more enjoyable. She made me sing with her on the final show-off day, and we became good friends soon after.

 

The upbeat girl bounced in place a bit. "Hajime, what are you doing here? I thought you were doing something today! Ibuki could've come with you if she knew you were coming the same place she was!" She made a sad face.

 

Chiaki continued squirming, trying to escape. "I was supposed to be at Chiaki's house, but I decided she needed some human interaction."

 

Ibuki nodded, "Ibuki understands, Hajime! Ibuki once tried to get Byakuya to leave the house, but they didn't want to move! Ibuki had to blindfold them so they'd even get off the couch! I can't believe they actually came with Ibuki! Of course, they'll probably never leave the couch now, not after getting all wet, what has Ibuki done!?!"

 

I laughed, Tsumiki was right after all..

 

Jumping from one foot to another, the singer threw one of her hands in the air. "Ibuki wants to know if you and Chiaki want to come with Ibuki! Ibuki and Peko and Akane are having a sleepover tonight and you two could come if you want!"

 

I sighed. Even though a sleepover with Pekoyama, Owari, Ibuki, and Chiaki seems fun, it also seems Saturday is a big night for parties. "Sorry, Ibuki, me and Chiaki are already going to a party tonight."

 

"Awwwwww!" Ibuki pouted, "It could've been really fun with two more people.. It's okay, though, Hajime! I'm sure you'll have a good time!"

 

I rubbed my neck with my free hand. "Yeah, I hope.." Suddenly, Chiaki ripped away from my hand and dashed into the game store. Crap, I was so busy talking to Ibuki I hadn’t noticed she had stopped moving to lessen my grip..! I started to follow her, then turned around and backpedaled. "Bye Ibuki!"

 

She waved, "Bye, Hajime! Ibuki hopes you have fun!"

 

I turned and sprinted toward where Chiaki was. With all these games, I'll be had to find where she. It'll probably take a while.. I've never been in this exact store before, but it can't be that big.. I turned the corner to see the giant shelves of every type of game.

 

This is going to take a lot more than a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chiaki and Hajime's adventures
> 
> I'm back! Chapters should come at a steady pace now


	4. Chapter 4

I stood in front of Chiaki's mirror, fidgeting. "I don't know, I feel sort of underdressed..."

 

Chiaki adjusted her jacket collar. "You'll be fine, Hajime. It's not a fancy party or anything, just casual. If anything, you're overdressed."

 

I looked down at my outfit. I had on a black button up shirt and red jacket with my regular jeans. Chiaki was right, I'll probably be fine. I turned to the girl who was helping Fujisaki tie their dress in the back. Their dress was a dark green, and looked pretty cute, while Chiaki wore a regular pink skirt and hoodie, nothing out of the ordinary.

 

It was about 8:45 at night, and we were off to the party on "The Byakuya Togami". If it was a party with all of my friends, I wouldn't be that nervous, but right now I felt sick. I've never met any of Fujisaki's friends, so I'm not sure how I'll make an impression.. Although Fujisaki always says how fun they are.. Either way, Chiaki'll be there, I'll be fine. It's not like she'll leave or anything, I won't be alone.

 

Chiaki finished up helping Fujisaki and turned her back to me, and sneakily slipped her handheld gaming console into her jacket pocket, before fumbling with some things on her desk pointlessly.  She's trying to hide it from me, isn't she? Chiaki turned back around, "Okay, Hajime, let's go."

 

"Not until you hand over that game." I crossed my arms as Chiaki faked innocence.

 

"Huh? What do you mean?" She held her hands up, palms facing me. I rolled my eyes and let out a small laugh at the awful acting.

 

"The game you stuffed in your pocket, don't think I didn’t see that."

Chiaki gave a look of fake confusion. Fujisaki giggled and stuck their hand in her jacket pocket and pulled out the small machine and handed it to me. The gamer frowned.

 

"Chiaki, I told you, you shouldn't bring games to parties," I scolded her, and she blew out a puff of air.

 

"Yeah, Chiaki, if you really want to play a game, you can ask someone at the party to play with you. Remember how much fun you had with Mondo?" Fujisaki reminded her. Chiaki pulled at her pink hair a bit before nodding.

 

I picked up my wallet and phone, and stuffed them in different pockets. My pants' pockets don't fit much in them, I don't know why, but it gets annoying to fumble the things in my hands around in order to get them in, I really need new ones... I jogged down the hallway to catch up to the two siblings, who had started to make their way to the car during my pocket struggle. When I reached the car, they had both hopped in the back seat, leaving me to drive. A great start already.

 

We arrived at the dock, and I attempted to park in one of the few remaining places. I've only ever practiced driving in my mom's old minivan, and Chiaki's dad's car is much different.

 

We walked along the river to the dock where the boat was bobbing in the water, the strong current threatening to take it away if not for the rope tying it to the dock.

 

"Chihiro! Nanami!" A voice came from behind us, and I turned to see the source.

 

"Aoi!" Fujisaki walked over to the girl. "Is Sakura with you?"

 

She shook her head. "Nah, she's coming later. I was supposed to be late too, but swimming practice ended early."

 

I leaned towards Chiaki to whisper. "What should I do?" 

 

At that moment the girl noticed me, and started to walk over to me. "Oh! Are you Hinata? Chihiro said you were coming! It's nice to meet you." She tapped her chin. "Oh, I should probably introduce myself! I'm Aoi Asahina!"

 

"I'm Hajime Hinata. Of course, you seem to know that already.." I laughed weakly.

 

The swimmer smiled at me, then turned back toward her classmate. "Come on, Chihiro, I'll race you to the boat!" Asahina turned and began sprinting toward the boat's ramp.

 

Fujisaki squeaked and half-ran after her. "Wait, Aoi! I can't run in this dress-!"

 

Chiaki giggled at her sibling, and took a step toward the boat. She turned her head to look at me. "Come on, Hajime. It's really not going to be as bad as you think."

 

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "You're right. I'm just overreacting. Let's go." I smiled, and we started to head toward the party. I'm sure I'll have fun. Besides, Chiaki will be there, so I won't need to talk to the others much. It can't be that bad...

 

I'm standing next to the railing facing the river. Alone.

 

I sighed. I knew something wasn't going to go my way, and I'd end up in a position similar to this one. It always happens when I'm not with my friends, for whatever reason..

 

After we got to the party, I met some of Fujisaki's classmates, and for a while it was okay. Chiaki made sure I didn't feel alone, and everything was actually pretty fun for the time being. Of course, just like I knew she would, she was tired from pulling an all-nighter the night before, and fell asleep with her head on Fujisaki's lap. Ever since then I've felt out of place, but I can't just leave Chiaki, even though she has Fujisaki..

 

I sighed again and laid my forehead against the railing. "Maybe I can get Chiaki to give me her Legend of Zelda collection in exchange for this..."

 

I heard a small laugh to my left, and I looked in that direction. A boy, also leaning against the rail, was looking in my direction. Was he laughing at me? "What?" I asked in an angry voice, and the boy smiled.

 

"Nothing." He began to walk toward me. I didn't recognize him, he must be someone Fujisaki hadn't introduced me to yet.

 

"Um.. Well, hello." The stranger was standing next to me now, and I had a closer look at him. The boy had on a white shirt and jeans, and his skin looked very pale in the dim lighting. He didn't look familiar at all, but I definitely wouldn't miss him in a crowd, on account of his hair, which I thought was a blonde color at first (because really, who has white hair?), but now I can see that it is indeed white, and it's actually kind of pretty...

 

"Oh! Excuse me for not introducing myself! I'm Nagito Komaeda." The boy smiled again and I felt my stomach flutter for a second.

 

"I'm Hajime Hinata, and it's fine, I wouldn't have remembered either."

 

Komaeda nodded with a smile and looked toward the river. "So I'm assuming your friend abandoned you too, huh?"

 

I followed his gaze across the river. "Sort of. She fell asleep, on her sibling's lap no less. I don't know how they feel about that, heh.."

 

Komaeda let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I understand. My friend left to do something, I don't know where, probably on the other side of town, it wouldn't be the first time." I expected him to continue, but he didn’t.

 

I looked straight down to the dark water. "Yeah, well, we're both left out, so why not just stay together? I mean, we've got nothing better to do." I looked back up to Komaeda, who was already looking at me.

 

The boy's eyebrows knitted together in.. confusion? "Are you sure? I mean, you just met me! I could be some sort of murderer trying to kill you or something!"

 

"It's not like we're going to have sex or anything. Besides, it's a packed party, not the ideal place to commit murder."

 

"It might be an ideal place to have sex though."

 

I shrugged and let out a laugh. "True."

 

I poked Chiaki's arm. "Chiaki, wake up. It's 5:30 in the morning, we need to go home."

 

A small groan and blinking eyes answered my persistence. The gamer sat up rubbing her eyes, and a very happy Fujisaki stomped their feet to try and wake up their thighs.

 

"...Hmm? Oh, I'm awake." She stood up and looked around. "Where did the party go?"

 

"You slept through it." All that was left of the once life-filled party was a few of what I assumed to be staff members of the boat cleaning stuff up. Komaeda left about a half hour ago, saying his friend had come back and had wanted to leave. I was fine with it, it was really late, or, early, I guess, Chiaki, Fujisaki, and I had to leave soon anyway. Waking Chiaki up however, is just as hard as getting her to stop playing her games. She probably dreamed of playing them, to be honest.

 

We all climbed into the car, Fujisaki in the passenger seat and Chiaki sprawled out in the back, asleep again (and me driving, of course). I carefully pulled out of the parking space and started onto the main road. As we passed along the riverside, I remembered something I wanted to ask Fujisaki. "Hey, Fujisaki?" They turned to me, listening. "Is there anyone in your class named Nagito Komaeda?"

 

They tilted their head. "N-no, not in my class. Maybe in another class, I don't know much about any class besides mine. Why?"

 

I stopped at the light and leaned back in my seat. "Nothing really, I just met someone at the party and I was wondering if they were in your class."

 

"Do you want their number?"

 

I blinked. "Ah.. I guess... B-but just to stay in contact! N-not..."

 

Fujisaki patted my shoulder. "I understand, Hinata." They looked out their window as the light turned green once more, and I continued down the road.

 

When we arrived at their house, I helped carry in Chiaki, who didn’t even twitch in her sleep, she really is a heavy sleeper...

 

Fujisaki offered for me to stay the rest of the night at their house, but I declined, the sun would rising in a few minutes, so I wouldn't be in their house for long. My house is only a few blocks away, anyway.

 

I walked on the riverside sidewalk, looking over the water. This way was a shortcut, not by much, but it was a lot prettier then the regular concrete road of the longer way. The sky looks especially beautiful now, all pink and orange from preparing to harbor the rising sun, and the river reflected the colors to create the perfect scenery.

 

A break in the hard concrete under my feet made me realize I was drifting off the path. I quickly stepped onto the sidewalk and continued my walk.

 

I noticed something was off. Nothing seemed different, but at the same time something was. I stopped and listened. Nothing sounded wrong... I continued walking. My eyes widened and I stopped again. There it was..! Or, not there. I took a single step trying to test what I thought, and a small echo matching my footstep exactly followed. I whipped around, but I couldn't see anyone or anything, not even any boats on the river, which freaked me out a bit, to stay the least.

 

I took a few more steps, listening to the "echo". It sounds exactly like someone's footsteps... It couldn't be anything else... I shivered. "I know you're there." I shouted out to the direction of the sounds. Nothing moved.

 

I straightened my back and tightened my hands into fists. I can do this... "S-stop hiding!" Crap, my voice cracked! However, I heard a crunching sound closer then I originally thought. I took a small step back, but that must have been the moment the person was waiting for.

 

In a blur, someone ran out from behind one of the bushes a few hundred feet away. Jumping back out of surprise, I stepped backwards a few times.

 

The person didn't stopped running toward me, sending sparks of alarm through my body. Whatever they wanted, I didn’t want to find out. I turned and ran the other direction, my eyes unable to focus on anything.

 

They was gaining on me, I couldn't risk stopping, so, sure I would regret it, I ran past the turn to my house and continued sprinting along the river.

 

A ray of light from the half-risen sun reflecting off the water caught me off guard, and I blinked, trying not to slow. Wait, that's it..! I'll run until they catch up, then jump into the river! The jump will catch them off guard, and the current will have taken me down river some by the time the person realizes what happened! But I'll need to time to correctly, or I won't jump in time..

 

The footsteps running after me were close now, and I got ready. One, two-! I took a step sideways, out of the way of my pursuer, and prepared to make the leap. Just as I was about to jump, I felt a hand grab at my shirt, and with a small squeak, I half jumped half fell into the freezing water below.

 

The fall immediately plunged me underwater, and I opened my eyes to search for a light source to indicate up, but it only made my eyes sting from the water, forcing them closed again. I could feel the current tugging me along, and I felt something hit my foot. The water must be getting shallower, maybe I was swept into a side stream or something. I tried pushing off where I thought the bottom was, but to no avail. I coughed, precious air escaping my lungs. I need to find to find the surface! I started swinging my arms around to find something to use as a guide. My right arm hit something jagged, probably a rock from the bottom of the river! I pushed off it as hard as I could to hopefully launch myself upwards. Instead of my head breaking the surface, it made contact with something else, and pain shot through my head. I blacked out for a second and gasped. Water filled my lungs, and I quickly coughed to get it out, but realized my mistake when only air came out, robbing me of my last bit of oxygen. Oh my god, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to-

 

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around my chest, and whoever it was pulled me upwards and I broke the surface. Gasping and taking in the fresh oxygen, I grabbed at my stomach and coughed. The person holding me carried me over to the riverbank, and laid me down on the ground gently. I felt confused, my head was all fuzzy, but I managed to prop myself up on my elbows before coughing and vomiting water, emptying my system of the liquid. My head hurt really badly, I really need to sleep.. or something... I rolled over onto my back and closed my eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hinata probably looks like Shintaro or something
> 
> I'm really sorry it took 3 weeks to update! It probably won't happen again, I had some computer problems and the writing wouldn't save. I'll hopefully have another chapter up by friday


	5. Chapter 5

I paced back and forth on the riverbed, holding my head. This wasn't good at all... When I followed Hinata away from his friend's house, everything was going perfect. At the rate I was walking, I should've caught up to him right as the sun was rising and I could've finished the job without a problem. It's just my luck that he figured out something was different. This one's more clever then I thought, I'll need to make sure he doesn't figure anything out... Although he's not clever enough to realize there's a reason no one ever goes swimming in the river, that's the main reason this attempt didn't work. If the fate was less specific in the method of dying, I couldve just left him in the river to drown, but it specifically showed the knife...

 

I heard a sigh and turned to see Hinata shifting and twitching. He must finally be waking up. I stood there for a second contemplating whether I should let him wake up on his own or helping him, I decided on the latter and knelt down beside his head, gently shaking him. "Hinata."

 

The boy laying on the ground groaned and rolled over, mumbling.

 

I poked his side once again. "Hinata, wake up."

 

His face scrunched up for second, and his eyes blinked open to a squint before closing almost immediately. "Uh, Chiaki, don't wake me up this early..." Hinata rubbed his eyes groggily while rolling over, his head crashing into my knees.

 

"..Huh?" The boy opened his eyes again and looked up at my face. For a second he just watched me with sleepy eyes, before recognition flashed on his face and he bolted upward, knocking his arm against my leg in the process. "K-komaeda?"

 

I smiled. "Fancy meeting you here, huh Hinata?" I laughed, but Hinata's expression stayed a mixure of confusion and alarm.

 

"W-what happened? Why are we.. in the forest?" He seemed on-edge. I don't blame him, he nearly died, and might have a mild concession as well if one of those rocks got him.

 

I changed my position from sitting on my legs to crossing them. "Oh, you don't remember, do you?" Hinata looked at the ground and shook his head. "Well, I don't know what you were doing before I found you, but I was walking home after taking my friend back to their house, when I noticed someone in the water. No one swims in the river because of the currents, so I figured they needed help."

 

Hinata nodded and stared off into the space past me. I leaned closer to his face, "Are you okay? You're not hurt or anything, right? I didn't want to check when you were passed out."

 

The boy's eyes widened slightly and his cheeks tinted pink. "N-no, I'm fine... just a little dizzy..."

 

I sat up straight again and smiled. "Oh, okay." I looked around. As for where we are, I don't know exactly. I've never been over here before, there's no path that follows this river." It's strange, I've been in the forest near the river, but this place doesn't seem familiar at all.. I'm sure I should recognize it..

 

"Hey, Komaeda." Hinata's voice broke my thoughts, refocused to look at him.

 

"What is it?"

 

"What time is it?"

 

I leaned back and tilted my head back slightly to look at the sky. "Ah, well, I don't actually have a watch with me, but according to where the sun is in the sky, I'd say a little before noon."

 

Hinata slapped his forehead with his palm accompanied by a whispered 'shit'. "My mom is going to kill me..."

 

"She's probably understand, I mean, you almost drowned, that should be a good enough excuse." The boy sighed in response.

 

"Yeah, well, would your mother except that as a good excuse?" The closest thing I have to a mother is Junko, and knowing her, she really wouldn't care if I died, much less if I came back a few hours late, "Besides, if she learns the reason I didn't come home on time was because some-" He stopped short of finishing his sentence.

 

"Hmm?" I think I already know what the rest of the sentence is without asking, but I do it anyways.

 

"Oh, I.. lost my train of thought." Hinata watched the ground with a blank expression. I figured he didn't want to worry me with what happened.

 

I stood up and stretched, "We should probably do something about this." I gestered to the trees and wilderness around us.

 

"Yeah, that would be a good idea. I don't want to be stuck here if some bears or something decide they would like to claim this clearing as their own." I laughed and stuck out my hand to help him up. He took it, and once he was on his feet he put his hands on his hips.

 

"Ugh, but what do we do? We don't have any way to.." His face suddenly lit up. "Wait...!" Hinata eyes widened and his jammed his hands into his pockets.

 

"..What are-" Before I could finish, the boy pulled his hand out of his pocket holding something.

 

"Yes!" He held the phone where we both could see it and repeatedly clicked the power button while whispering 'please work please work please work'. The phone didn't light up.

 

"Dammit!" Hinata moved in a motion like he was about to throw the device to the ground, but held onto it and turned to me. "Is your phone okay? Probably not if mine's all waterlogged, but.."

 

"I, uh, didn't bring my phone." I didn't have a phone at all, but he doesn't know that.

 

Hinata sighed andrubbed his hand through his short hair while looking around the clearing. "Well, now what?"

 

"Umm, maybe we could walk back to town? It's not that far from here, so we should be there in an hour at most."

 

The boy shrugged. "It's our best bet, and I haven't got any better ideas."

 

I bent down to grab my bag, then straightened up and slung it over my shoulder. Along the river would faster, but the terrain is more jagged and harder to get across. I could lead him a different way entirely so I can stall long enough for sunrise to come again, but he'll notice rather quickly we were going in the wrong direction, he's already shown he's not stupid. The best bet would be to head in the direction of the city and hope something delays us. "How about we just head toward the town?" I pointed towards the trees opposite of the stream. "We should reach it pretty quickly going that way."

 

He nodded and I started off in the direction I pointed to. Considering all the fallen trees and bushes in our way, it'll be a little harder to navigate through them, so that'll take up some time...

 

"Hey, Komaeda?"

 

I turned around to face Hinata, who had only taken a step since I started walking. "Yeah?"

 

He brought his gaze up from the ground to meet my eyes. "Thank you."

 

"O-oh, u-um..." I didn't expect him to say something.. like that. "Y-you don't need to thank me, I mean, I couldn't just l-leave you in the river to die!" I chuckled for a second and rubbed the back of my neck.

 

"You could've, but you didn't, so.. thank you." He averted his eyes from mine. "Now, let's get back to civilization!" The boy reverted back to his normal self and ran past me into the trees ahead.

 

"H-hey, don't leave me!" I laughed a little and followed him, trying to forget what just happened.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This actually took a while to update, sorry about that


End file.
